Chaplains needed

(November 26, 2000)

Captain Charles W. Marvin, Chaplain Corps, U.S. Navy, (Ret.),
became director of the Chaplaincy Department in Assemblies of God
Home Missions in 1998. He spoke recently with Ken Horn, managing editor
of the Pentecostal Evangel.

Evangel: What is the Assemblies of God chaplaincy ministry?

Marvin:
The Chaplaincy Department commissions its ministers to work outside
the Assemblies of God. Most of what we do is done in public institutions
and occupational areas not normally accessible to clergy.

More than 350 chaplains are serving, including 150 who are either
military active duty and reserves or Veterans Affairs chaplains. More
than 185 institutional and occupational chaplains serve primarily
in prisons and in health care. Other chaplains are at racetracks and
rodeos, and in motorcycle clubs. These chaplains are Assemblies of
God ministers.

Many of those we lead to Christ may never darken the door of an Assemblies
of God church; however, we do count on local pastors and their churches
to be receiving places  especially for those who come to the
Lord in prison.

Through Light for the Lost, Boys and Girls Missionary Crusade, the
Pentecostal Evangel and Global University, we provide Bibles,
literature and opportunities for religious education.

Evangel: Give us a profile of a chaplain.

Marvin: A chaplain is a man or woman who becomes burdened
for the military population, the prison population or the people in
hospitals, motorcycle clubs, racetracks, rodeos or in the trucking
industry. And so they prepare to work in an environment that may not
be receptive, and they find or create opportunities for caring and
working their way into peoples hearts.

Evangel: What can local churches do to support chaplains?

Marvin: Our institutional/occupational chaplains can and
should be involved in sectional meetings and district functions, as
their schedules permit. Military chaplains may never be stationed
in their districts, so district officials need to view them as their
missionaries.

Also, pastors and churches must pray for their chaplains and for
those who leave their churches to serve their country. Sometimes young
people leave home to get away from Mom and Dads religion and
from God and church. And, surprise, they run right into the arms of
God through the ministry of one of our chaplains.

Were grateful for the monetary support we get on National Prison
Sunday in September and Military Personnel Day the Sunday before the
Fourth of July. This is used for literature and to support our work
in institutional/occupational and military/VA chaplaincies. Chaplaincy
ministries are one of the best deals the Assemblies of God has going
for ministers, because chaplains are paid by federal or state governments
and other public institutions. This represents about $10 million annually.

Evangel: What is the need for men and women to enter the chaplaincy?

Marvin: I referred recently to the 1998 reported statistics
for the Assemblies of God. I took the number of conversions reported
by our chaplains and compared them to district reports. If the Chaplaincy
Department were a district, we would have ranked 17th of 58 districts
in the number of conversions reported in 1998.

We need people who can qualify academically, and with pastoral experience
and ordination. We need people who are able to articulate our doctrine,
yet respect the right of people to worship God as they choose.

Evangel: What about women in the chaplaincy?

Marvin: More women are needed. The government, the military
and other institutions will take qualified female chaplains in a heartbeat
if we can provide them.

Evangel: How does a chaplain touch lives?

Marvin: If I were to call almost any chaplain, he or she
would tell me about a specific case during the past week in which
he/she has led someone to the Lord, prayed with a couple to rededicate
their lives or nudged someone closer to an encounter with God. That
sums up where a chaplains influence is  with those outside
the church.